DOOM Born Like This

DOOM is an MF, no question. A self-described “supervillain,” his megalomania knows no bounds—luckily, neither do his rhyme skills. On Born Like This, the latest installment in the (now just) DOOM saga unfolds through alliterative lines laced with obscure in-jokes and superlative boasts. DOOM’s legionnaires include Raekwon, Tony Starks, Empress Starhh, and Kurious, and it’s a testament to the MC’s dopeness that every verse is damn near a hip-hop quotable, like this couplet from “Ballskin”: “He wears a mask so when he dons his face/Each and every race could absorb the bass.” As sublime as DOOM’s lyrics are, the music is equally unpredictable, whether referencing ESG’s “UFO” or new-school Dilla instros. Madvillainy, indeed.